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By rand wilson, on March 4th, 2010 (Originally published on Working In These Times blog at http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5639/troublemakers_go_to_school_in_boston)
 BOSTON—More than 90 union members, students and community activists jammed the SEIU Local 888 union hall here on Saturday for a “Troublemakers School” sponsored by Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.
IBEW Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey gave a rousing welcome to kick things off. “We’re not going to get labor’s problems solved in Washington or on Beacon Hill unless we take a page from the civil rights and gay rights movements,” said Calvey, a former New England telecom strike leader. “We’ve got to be a lot more aggressive so that politicians are forced to deal with our issues. We’ve got make our problems, their problems!”
Calvey was followed by a panel of local organizers from the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Angelica Laundry strike, Service Employees’ Local 1199’s Caritas hospital campaign and American Federation of Government Employee’s Transportation Safety Officers organizing drive. Their presentations were followed by a wide-ranging discussion about organizing strategies and reports from other workplace struggles. (To learn more about these campaigns, go to www.ufcwlocal1445.org/Open1445Intro2.htm; http://fairunionelections.org and
Continue reading Troublemakers Go to School in Boston
By jwjnational, on January 28th, 2010 It is with great sadness that we report the passing of historian, author, teacher, and activist Howard Zinn.
Howard was a long time supporter of Jobs with Justice. He was arrested in in 1996 as part of a Jobs with Justice delegation peacefully supporting striking immigrant workers at the Richmark factory in Everett, MA.
Howard Zinn inspired the Western Massachusetts Jobs with Justice “Voices of a People’s History” performance and inspired our “Voices of Working People’s History” May Day Celebration. You can listen to Howard deliver a heart-wrenching and spirited reading of his work incorporating a rich selection of quotations and rememberances of labor history in Western Massachusetts on the W. Mass JwJ website.
His leadership, insight, and inspiration will be greatly missed.
Obituaries:
Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87
Howard Zinn, Historian, Dies at 87
More information will be forthcoming at www.howardzinn.org.
By Russ Davis, on December 8th, 2009 Jobs with Justice is saddened to announce the passing of longtime friend and Jobs with Justice supporter Tim Costello on December 4th at the age of 64. Tim was a lifetime activist and visionary of the U.S. and global progressive and labor movements. His hard work deep thinking and good humor will be sorely missed at a time when we are confronting a deep crisis. Tim’s contributions have been, and will be, invaluable in developing new strategies for working people moving forward.
We will be working with Tim’s family, friends, and colleagues to remember Tim and his work. For now you can go to the website that Tim helped to develop to read more about Tim’s life and to write your tributes and condolences, http://www.laborstrategies.blogs.com.
By jwjnational, on October 16th, 2009 The insurance companies are spending millions to confuse and scare the public in order to keep their grip on our health and our money. The insurance industry trade lobby, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released a report that claims the Senate Finance Committee’s version of health care reform legislation would raise average family premiums to $21,300. They want us to fear any change so they can continue paying millions of dollars to their CEOs while they routinely deny care and raise premiums.
Meanwhile, each year more than 45,000 people die because they can’t get the care they need. That’s more than 120 deaths every day.
 Yesterday, in nine cities across the country, people staged sit-ins at health insurance offices to call for real reform that addresses the real cause of the health care crisis. The actions were a part of a national day of action coordinated by the group Mobilization for Health Care for All.
Add your voice to theirs! Demand that insurance giant United Health Group publicly commit to approve all doctor-recommended treatment for people
Continue reading Dozens Arrested Protesting for Health Care Reform. Add Your Voice!
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on October 16th, 2009 Last week we told you about two campaigns that Rhode Island JwJ supported during JwJ’s economic recovery week of action – an ordinance to protect against Hyatt-style subcontracting in the Providence Convention Center District, and a union contract campaign for food service workers at Brown University where health care was a key issue.
Yesterday, Brown dining service workers voted to approve a new three-year contract that keeps health care affordable and includes 2% wage increases each year.
 Last night, the Providence City Council took a final vote to approve the Hospitality Business Protection and Worker Retention Ordinance. The ordinance will require that hospitality businesses in the district, including the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the Rhode Island Convention Center, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and three hotels, retain employees for at least six months in the event of a sale or subcontract of the business and maintain the prevailing wage and health insurance standards.
These victories come as “the most dangerous woman in Rhode Island moves on” and as RI JwJ welcomes a new staff person. We wish outgoing RI
Continue reading Update: Two Worker Victories in Providence
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on October 6th, 2009  On October 1st, surrounded by 100+ supporters of the measure from UNITE HERE Local 217 and Jobs with Justice, Providence became the first city to act since the scandal provoked by the firing of the “Hyatt 100” in Boston. These 100 housekeepers were left with no jobs when three Boston Hyatt Hotels replaced them in with low-wage subcontractors.
The Providence City Council, taking the first of two required votes, voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to protect against Hyatt-style subcontracting in the Providence Convention Center District. The Hospitality Business Protection and Worker Retention Ordinance will require that hospitality businesses in the district retain employees for at least six months in the event of a sale or subcontract of the business and maintain the prevailing wage and health insurance standards.
Councilman Solomon introduced the legislation:
I am proud to be working to protect Providence workers from Hyatt-style layoffs. Our cities have invested massive public resources to build the tourism industry. In return tourism employers should provide good middle class jobs, whether at the Hyatt in Boston or the Convention
Continue reading Providence City Council Votes to Protect Against Hyatt-style Subcontracting
By rand wilson, on October 5th, 2009 The figures are staggering. Unemployment is at 9.1 percent and new unemployment claims continue to increase. By one measure, real unemployment and underemployment are double the official rate. According to the Labor Department, job seekers now outnumber openings by six to one!
 That’s why more than 1,000 union members, unemployed workers, students, clergy and community leaders came together for an October 1 march and rally to highlight the growing jobs crisis. The group protested on the Boston Common, at Verizon’s New England headquarters and at the Hyatt Regency Hotel against a corporate agenda that has left far too many workers behind.
Eighty labor and community groups sponsored the march and rally. Accompanying the march was the IBEW Local 103 One Hundred and Third Drum and Bagpipe Band and the Somerville Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Marching Band.
The action also focused on how big banks have misused our tax dollars. So far, few of the hundreds of billions in taxpayer money that went to the big banks have reached Main Street. Robert Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO said:
“Economic recovery isn’t
Continue reading Boston Workers March for an Economy That Works for Everyone
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on September 18th, 2009 On August 31 all 100 housekeepers at Hyatt’s three Boston area hotels were fired. They were given their last paychecks, told to clean out their lockers and leave. Some had worked for Hyatt for more than 20 years.
The housekeepers had been told they were training workers who would be filling in for vacations, but they had in fact been training their replacements. Upon being fired, they were immediately replaced by workers from an out-of-state subcontractor Hyatt brought in which will pay workers $8/hour with no benefits.
Last night, more than 400 people, including members of Massachusetts JwJ and UNITE HERE Local 26 gathered outside the Hyatt Regency Boston to demand that they give workers their jobs back. Several state and local politicians attended the rally, and Mayor Menino issued a statement in support of the workers. Stay tuned for updates on this story.
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on September 9th, 2009 A sampling of what Jobs with Justice coalitions worked on from August 22-September 7.
 Security Guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, after repeated requests for a meeting, welcomed new director Timothy Rub with a rally on the steps of the museum. On September 3rd, the guards filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to allow them to unionize as members of the Philadelphia Security Officers Union, an independent union.
Jobs with Justice was one of 521 organizations that signed an open letter to Obama criticizing the Presidents inactivity on immigration reform. The letter demands the “immediate termination” of the 287(g) program which allows local law enforcement agencies to essentially act as proxies for federal agents who investigate, apprehend, transport, and detain people who are suspected of being undocumented.
The national debate on health care continues to be front-and-center, and JwJ coalitions remain engaged on the ground.
Missouri JwJ is part of a coalition pushing for reform.
St. Joseph Valley Project/JwJ in South Bend, Indiana went out to show their support for health reform when the so-called “Patients First National Bus Tour” came to town.
JwJ was part of
Continue reading Quick Hits: Labor Day Edition
By jwjnational, on August 26th, 2009 Cross-posted from Massachusetts Jobs with Justice
 After nine months of organizing a grassroots campaign to recover their salaries and educate the immigrant community about their rights as workers, a group of Latino immigrant workers have recovered their salaries that had been unjustly denied them by a cleaning company that subcontracted with Boston area restaurant chain Legal Sea Food.
More than 30 immigrant workers employed by different subcontracting companies to clean in the Cheesecake Factory and Legal Sea Food restaurants were paid with bad checks or not paid at all for regular and overtime hours worked. “The workers are eager to continue the campaign to recover all of their wages, as only one company has agreed to pay so far and there are still workers who have had their rights violated,” stated Yessenia Alfaro, Organizing Director of the Chelsea Collaborative and board member of the Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.
“The violation of labor rights is a systemic problem affecting all workers in this country and immigrant workers are even more vulnerable to this exploitation,” said Patricia Montes, Centro Presente’s Executive Director. “The Department of Labor must invest resources into the enforcement
Continue reading Immigrant Workers in Boston Win Unpaid Wages
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